


A Lopsided Guardian

by ericsonclan



Series: OG World [59]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gardens & Gardening, Gen, Post-Canon, Scarecrow - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27012607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: Louis, AJ and Willy work on making a scarecrow for the new outdoor garden.
Relationships: AJ | Alvin Jr. & Louis (Walking Dead: Done Running), AJ | Alvin Jr. & Willy (Walking Dead: Done Running), Aasim/Ruby (Walking Dead: Done Running), Clementine/Louis (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Series: OG World [59]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815361
Kudos: 9





	A Lopsided Guardian

**Author's Note:**

> (by Laura)

“Ah, a perfect likeness!” Louis declared, pulling proudly on the sides of his jacket as he looked between A.J. and Willy. “You know, boys, I consider this a job well done,”

“He looks awesome!” Willy exclaimed, his gap-toothed smiled wide as he jumped around excitedly.

“Yeah, there won’t be any birds daring to come here anytime soon,” A.J. agreed. His pose mirrored Louis’, pulling on the sides of his own jacket in pride.

“What’s this about birds?” Aasim asked, stepping over to join the group. Suddenly his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Wait a minute… are those my clothes?” He looked at the life-sized wooden stick figure the boys had made as it lay against one of the picnic tables. A series of sticks had been lashed together to form the skeleton frame while an unripe gourd was used as the head.

“They’ve been given to a worthy cause,” Louis replied, unabashedly smiling at his friend. “From now on your garments will protect our little garden from all the predators of the sky,”

“No they won’t!” Aasim declared, striding forward and ripping the clothes off of the wooden frame underneath. “Use your own clothes if you’re that keen on sacrifice! Or find some spares around the school, but don’t go dragging me into this.”

“Aww, c’mon ‘Sim, don’t be a spoilsport!” Louis protested, his lower lip jutting out in a fake pout. “They were just laying around begging to be put to use! It’s not like you ever get out of that smelly old hoodie anyways,”

“Says the guy in a duct-taped trench coat 24/7!”

“What’s all the ruckus out here for?” Ruby asked, bustling out to see what was going on.

Willy leapt forward. “Ruby, we made the scarecrow for you!”

“But Aasim stole the clothes,” A.J. added.

“They’re _my_ clothes!”

Ruby ignored the squabbling and examined the scarecrow. “Well, it’s not a bad first attempt, but you boys are going to have find some sort of sturdy pole to mount it on so it can actually stand up. Also, while the gourd you picked does look an awful lot like Aasim, that’s gonna rot and fall off in a matter of weeks so you’re gonna wanta find a more permanent option,”

“Wait,” Aasim looked back at the gourd head more closely. Some features had been etched onto the gourd with a knife including a triangle cut out below the massive frown. “You literally made an effigy of me?!”

“Aw, Aasim you say that like it’s a bad thing! You should be honored!” Louis cajoled, patting Aasim on the back.

“I’ve gotta get back to work,” Ruby said, walking back toward the greenhouse. “Keep at it, boys!”

“You would think having her as my girlfriend would mean she was on my side from time to time,” Aasim harrumphed, turning away.

“Trouble in paradise?” Louis asked, quirking an eyebrow. “I guess that proves Clem and I are the best couple after all,”

“Is that my name I hear?” Clementine asked, coming over on her crutches to see what was going on.

“Clem!” Louis exclaimed, jumping forward and guiding her towards the bench. “You’re just in time to witness he magnificence that is Gourdsim!”

“Oh, is that what it is?” Clementine chuckled as she watched A.J. and Willy toss the gourd back and forth. “I’m only catching glimpses of the carving that went into it, but it looks like quite the likeness,”

“I’m surrounded by philistines,” Aasim muttered under his breath.

“Why thank you,” Louis shot his girlfriend a toothy grin. “Unfortunately Ruby said the head’s a no go, so it’s back to square one,”

“Why not sew one?” Clementine suggested. “It wouldn’t have to be made out of anything fancy. We could use some of those old potato sacks from the kitchen,”

“That’s a great idea! I don’t know anything about sewing though,” Louis waved his duct taped sleeve. “Hence all the fancy alterations to my wardrobe,”

“I could sew it,” Clementine offered. “We’d just need to find a needle. Ruby guards the ones in the medical supply religiously,”

“I know where a few are,” Aasim stated, his arms crossed. “But if I’m to help with this, we are no longer making this scarecrow some twisted version of me!”

Louis and Clementine shared a smile. They could live with that.

\-----

“That’s quite the skills you’ve got there, Clem!” Louis whistled appreciatively.

“Thanks. It’s nothing much, just gets the job done,” Clementine replied as she sewed the sack stuffed with leaves and sticks closed. “To be honest, I’ve used these skills less on fabric than other materials,” She caught Louis frowning at her words. He’d spotted the scar from the dog bite on her arm a few weeks ago and she’d told him what she’d had to do to get it stitched up. The whole account had upset him terribly. “Not that I’ve had to use it for that purpose either, not for a long time,”

Louis took her wrist in his hand, placing a quick kiss upon it. “Let’s hope that trend continues,”

“Clem! Louis!” A.J.’s voice excitedly rang across the courtyard. “We found the perfect costume!” He and Willy ran up to the couple, a grey pile of clothes in tow. They raised it up proudly. “It’s a mouse costume!”

“We found it in that costume box Ruby discovered a while back!” Willy added.

It was indeed a mouse costume, likely worn for _The Nutcracker_ production that Ericson had used to put on each Christmas. They certainly had no other use for it now so it was perfect for the scarecrow.

“Looks great, guys,” Clementine raised up the scarecrow head she had in the works. “Maybe I can reshape this a bit, make it look more like a mouse face,”

“We could make big mouse ears for it too,” Louis suggested, grinning at the thought.

“We’ll get more potato sacks!” A.J. declared. With that he and Willy were off once more like a shot. Clementine giggled as she watched them run. It was nice to see A.J. so excited. It felt like things were finally starting to reach a new normal.

“Didn’t feel like using the prosthetic?” Louis’ question pulled her out of her thoughts.

“Wasn’t up for struggling with it today. This one’s way better than the others, but…” Clementine shook her head. “There’s still a lot to get used to,”

“We’ll work on it again when you’re ready,” Louis replied, his eyes gentle. “By the way, have you seen Vi today?”

“Omar pulled her aside for some sort of task, something about the ‘secrets of cooking’,”

Louis gave a mock gasp. “Omar decided to confide in Violet instead of me? And after all the Stew with Lous we shared together,”

“He clearly knows no loyalty,” Clementine replied, a smile playing on her lips as she joined in Louis’ theatrics. “There, I think that looks pretty mouse-like, right?”

“The spitting image. Y’know, I think I know where some buttons got stashed away a while back. They’d be perfect for eyes. I’ll just be a few,” Rising to his feet, Louis placed a quick kiss on his girlfriend’s forehead before scampering off in search of the buttons.

Clementine held up the mouse head. “Guess it’s just you and me then,”

The mouse head had nothing to say on the matter.

Clementine set it aside with a chuckle. This scarecrow really was coming together nicely.

\--------

“Just a little more and… there!” Louis grunted with effort as he forced the pole the scarecrow was placed on further into the ground. “That should hold him,” He and the two younger boys stepped back to admire their work. “Y’know, I think we did quite a fine job,”

“It’s the biggest mouse ever!” A.J. shouted, spreading his arms wide in glee.

“No birds are gonna mess with him!” Willy declared proudly.

Clementine smiled at the boys as she sat upon the picnic table bench. She turned when she heard a voice behind her.

“What the hell is that?” It was Violet, carrying a bowl of greens which she set upon the table.

“Louis and the boys have been working on a scarecrow all afternoon,”

“Huh. Hey Lou, it looks great!” Violet called out.

Louis face brightened only to fall as soon as he saw Violet’s smirk. “Yeah, Vi, that joke never gets old,”

“Get used to it! You’re gonna be hearing it for the rest of your life!” Violet sat down beside Clementine, looking pleased with herself.

Clementine smiled over at her friend. “Have fun with Omar?”

Violet shrugged. “It was fine,” She stared out at the garden before them. “Can’t believe it took us this long to make an outdoor garden,”

It had taken several days of grimy work to fully clear out and till the patch of land Ruby had decided on before planting all the seeds one by one. One of the picnic tables had been brought over to provide seating during breaks and still hadn’t been moved back yet so the girls had a close-up view of the garden. It looked charming now, planted with row upon row of beans, tubers, squash and more. They’d have quite the harvest if all went well.

“Excited for veggies?”

“I think Omar’s the most excited of us all. It’ll be nice to have something new on the menu though,”

Clementine nodded. No more canned beans for her. She had fresh, home-grown food now every day. A place to sleep at night, sturdy walls… sometimes she still couldn’t believe it was all real. But it was. She was home.

“Something on your mind?” Violet asked, looking inquisitive.

“Just happy is all,” Clementine chuckled as she watched Louis, A.J. and Willy do a little victory dance together. It was a good day.


End file.
